


how to sew one hundred roses

by fracnkie



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: I force Tim and Angel comparisons down your throat, Marriage Proposal, Multi, Polyamorous Mechanisms (The Mechanisms), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, the first ts ship fic I've put on this account
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:33:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25522153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fracnkie/pseuds/fracnkie
Summary: The time the Toy Soldier proposed to nearly every member of the crew on the starship Aurora and the times it got to proposed back
Relationships: The Toy Soldier/The Mechanisms
Comments: 27
Kudos: 120





	how to sew one hundred roses

**Author's Note:**

> This took... an incredibly long time to write so I'm not going to deign to wait for a better posting time. It's going up now or not at all. Once again betaed by the lovely KersPastei.

The common room is awfully quiet today. The only sound that cascades through it is the low, dull hum of Aurora herself and the quiet ticking of an egg timer that sits on the countertop. That’s not to say it’s quiet because there’s no one in there. In fact, there are multiple people there. They are all just rather quiet. Not on purpose, but mostly by virtue of being comfortable. Ivy Alexandria lays on a table with a book held above her head that she slowly works her way through. It’s some kind of romantic adventure tale about a princess and a pirate that goes on some very long and odd tangents. Marius von Raum is taking a break for once in his godforsaken “immortal” lifespan and is taking what might be a nap, might be a full night’s sleep on one of the couches. It’s a very cushy one with soft, velvety fabric that’s new enough not to have twenty stains on it, so it was probably bought last year. His head lays in the lap of Ashes O’Reilly who, at one point, was petting Marius’ hair as he fell asleep. Now, though, they are also asleep, although the sunglasses over their eyes make it look like they could possibly still be awake and just incredibly still.

Of course, quiet cannot remain for long on Aurora. The door to the commons lets out a slight puff as it opens, followed by Jonny all-but falling into the room with an armful of fabric. Between Ivy being absorbed in her book and the other two being asleep, he stabilizes without anyone noticing. He glances over the group and immediately scowls.

“Has anyone seen the Toy Soldier?” he asks, attempting to readjust the fabric in his arms to hold onto it better.

No response. He waits another ten seconds before giving a loud groan. He gives a quick pout and proceeds to shift the fabric into one arm, raising his knee to try to catch anything that falls. He very quickly draws his gun and unloads a shot into the ceiling before shoving it away again, ignoring the slight sizzle that comes from the holster. The bang of the gun, unsurprisingly, brings attention to his plight as he shifts the fabric back into both arms. Surprisingly, only one of the three actually give him said attention.

Marius shoots up, throwing himself onto the ground in surprise as his hands go to cover his ears. Ashes stays in place but Jonny can tell by the way they shift that they’re now awake. Ivy, on the other hand, doesn’t shift an inch. That’s fine, he expected that.

“What the shit was that for?!” Marius asks, still cupping his hands loosely over his ears but not flush against them.

“Has anyone seen the Toy Soldier?” Jonny repeats with an insufferable smugness to his tone.

“Why do you need it?” Ashes asks, a slight groan in their voice as they straighten up a bit.

“I need a dress form,” he says, gesturing slightly with the pile of fabric. “Unlike the rest of you, it can actually stay still for more than five seconds.”

“Bold words coming from First Mate Ferret over here,” Marius groans, hauling himself up on the couch.

Just as he opens his mouth for a retort, Jonny hears the distinctive sound of marching footsteps from the corridor behind him. He swings around with a wild smile on his face, miraculously not dropping any fabric.

“Ah, TS, just who I was looking for!” he exclaims with a purposeful gruffness in his tone.

The Toy Soldier unexpectedly startles at this and freezes in place. Jonny blinks in surprise as it stops mid-stride instead of sliding back into an attentive soldier’s stance and looks up at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

“You’re not supposed to be in here,” it says.

“I’m sorry?” Jonny asks incredulously.

It pauses, staring at him for a couple of seconds. “You were supposed to be in the practice room. Why are you here?”

“I can be wherever I damn well please,” he says, scrunching up his face in annoyance.

“Yes, of course,” it says, nodding. “But _ why _ are you here?”

“I was looking for you, actually,” he says, huffing slightly. “Help me with something?”

“No, I can’t.” It starts walking again toward the commons. “Go to the practice room, please.”

“You can’t tell me what to-”

“Go to the practice room, please. I need you in the practice room for it to be right.”

“For what to be right?”

It lets out an annoyed huff and stops right in front of Jonny where he blocks the door. It still holds no expression as it stares down at him slightly.

“I need everything to be perfect so you have to be in the practice room, Ashes, Marius and Ivy need to be in the commons, Tim and Brian need to be in the bridge, and Raph needs to be in her lab. Please go to the practice room.”

Jonny wants to say something, he really does, but he also knows there’s no fighting this. The Toy Soldier can be the most awfully persistent person on the ship, likely due to its nature as a soldier. It will carry him to the practice room if he chooses to continue to fight it and that would be downright humiliating. So, instead, he huffs, hugs the fabric closer to himself, and glares up at it.

“You better come into the practice room next to explain, or I  _ will _ hunt you down,” he says begrudgingly.

Marius and Ashes look on in surprise as Jonny marches out of the room, his boots sounding incredibly loud as he purposely stomps them all the way to the practice room. The Toy Soldier watches him go and doesn’t move until his footsteps are entirely silent, too far to be heard. As soon as they do, it turns back into the commons and lets its shoulders fall slightly. They hike up again almost immediately as a smile grows in its place. It glances around the room briefly before nodding and walking in, hand drifting to its side.

“What was that about,  _ alitaptap ko?” _ Ashes asks, shifting in their seat to sit up properly and not fall back asleep into the very comfortable couch. 

“I needed everything to be perfect and now it is!” it exclaims, stopping about two feet in front of them and sliding its hand into its pocket. “If Jonny was in here when I gave them to you then he would be pedantic about the similarities in the designs even though I did it intentionally because he likes matching things, he just likes to be upset about things and I don’t want him to be upset about this because I put a lot of effort into it so I needed him in the practice room but I’ll go to him first so he won’t get antsy because he gets very antsy easily.”

“Wow, I retained none of that,” Marius says as he pushes to stand. “Give them what?”

Its smile only grows wider as it draws its hand out of its pocket. Its fist is clasped around something that neither Ashes nor Marius can see as it brings its hands together. With what is clearly a practiced flourish, it grabs something out of its own palms and presents two items held perfectly between its pointer finger and thumb, holding each of them out to them individually. Two rings, perfectly fitted and handmade.

Ashes lays eyes on the ring made out of ash wood with a darker stain, giving the tiny details in the wood grain more depth. Its outer edge is not a perfect circle as the wood spikes up only to be covered with a smoky, grey resin fill cut to look like a gem, sanded down to be flush with the rest of the ring. Looking closer into the spiked wood at the edge, it looks incredibly similar to the surface horizon of the city where the Acheron rose out of the lower levels.

Marius takes in a stylized ring made out of walnut wood that looks incredibly different from Ashes’. The ring is carved to look like a set of dragonfly wings connected by a very small version of a dragonfly body, complete with some veins of the wings carved out, though obviously not all of them due to the sheer amount of cells in a dragonfly’s wing. Inside of the veins is a shining gold inlay that sparkles in the sterile light of the commons.

Both of them stare in mute surprise. Ashes is the first to take their ring, plucking it carefully out of the Toy Soldier’s fingers and rolling it over in their own. They run their fingers along where the resin meets the smooth sealant. As they’re looking it over, they catch a glimpse of something burned on the inside of the ring itself.

They bring it close to their face, removing their sunglasses, and read the tiny script with squinted eyes. The words are burned in with curling, fancy script but just on the side of legible. 

_ Ashes O’Reilly - Mahal Ko _

Ashes O’Reilly did not tear up, they didn’t do that anymore. Marius reacts before they can, though. He takes the ring and looks it over reverently as Ashes’ stare at their own in awe. He turns it over in his hand and studies the similar fanciful script carved into the inside and inlaid with glittering gold.

_ Doctor Baron Marius von Raum - Fy Nghariad _

And as he slips on the ring, he takes the now empty hand of the Toy Soldier and spins it around. It gives a noise of surprise as he dips it, careful to bend its knees so it doesn’t fall flat on the ground. With all the dramatics he can muster, he kisses it on the forehead, and then on the cheek, and then pulls it up with him and kisses it on its wooden jointed knuckles as it gives him a surprise, awestruck look.

“This is amazing,  _ fy annwyl!” _ he exclaims, bringing a hand to the ring now securely at the base of his finger. He twists it and feels along with the inlays, smiling at the feeling of the cold metal warming up against his skin. “Did you make this yourself?”

It lifts with delight at his happiness and gives a great big smile, bringing the hand that he kissed close to its chest where its heart would be. “I did!” it confirms, giving a slight nod. “It took… a while. But I’ve finished them all!”

“It’s beautiful, TS,” Ashes says softly as they slip their own ring on carefully.

They hold their hand up to the ceiling and smile as the light filters in through the resin casting, lighting up the City skyline that reminds them of looking out the same window this view came from. A small sigh escapes their lips. They bring their hand down to cup the Toy Soldier’s chin. They lift its face and plant a quick kiss on its stiff lips before pulling away quickly to cross their arms.

“This is a proposal, right?” Marius asks, bouncing as he looks over the ring. “I’m reading this right? This is a proposal?”

The Toy Soldier pauses only briefly in surprise, shoulders going back slightly. It relaxes again with a quick, excited nod, its smile small and soft.

“What are you all on about?” Ivy asks from behind it.

It turns to see Ivy still on the table, her book face-down on her stomach as she pushes herself up slightly with one elbow to face the group. Her face is one of blank curiosity, looking between the three. The Toy Soldier quickly wipes its own smile off of its face in a relaxed way and strides forward, pulling a third perfect ring out of its pocket. Before Ivy can look at it, it closes its hand around the ring and holds its other one out.

Ivy tilts her head but offers up her other hand, stretching over herself as her elbow digs into the table and the book threatens to fall over and lose her page. She ignores it, though, as the Toy Soldier places the ring in the palm of her hand, pressing it solidly into the center of her palm.

She looks over the ring in overwhelming curiosity. Half of it is made out of impeccable mahogany for the most part, but is torn and fades into a crinkled gold leaf encased in clear resin and transitions flawlessly. Mixed in with the gold leaf are tiny, crinkled scraps of aged paper. Because of how the resin takes up most of the available space, the carving on the inside is a bit tighter than the others but worth the effort nonetheless. The script is perfect, exact, precise letters that are all perfectly sized with each other.

_ Ivy Alexandria - Αστέρι Μου _

“Immaculate,” Ivy says in an even tone as she slips it on. “I accept.” She looks up to see the Toy Soldier staring at her with a blank, relaxed expression. “I’m sure everyone else will as well. In fact, would you please send Brian down here after you give him his?”

“As you wish,” it says with a slight bow.

She lets out a small huff of laughter. “You’ve been reading my books, haven’t you?”

“I might have done,” it says, standing up straight again. “I do have to get to Jonny before he gets upset over the lack of attention.”

“Of course,” Ivy nods, picking her book back up. “Thank you,  _ σχηματισμού μου.” _

It doesn’t take incredibly long to get to the practice room but the Toy Soldier runs its fingers along the surface of the cold sealant as the Aurora hums warmly around it. She confirms Jonny is still sitting in the practice room, though sulking. 

It stops steadily outside of the door and Aurora opens it for it, letting out a solid puff of decompression.

The room is lit warmly with instruments lying about, most of them in their proper cases. Sheets of music lay strewn across the floor, all of them lying flat or in stacks like people were purposely avoiding stepping on the damned things. Sitting on an old, beat-up loveseat is Jonny d’Ville, a noticeable scowl on his face as he looks up at the Toy Soldier, who enters the room with a smile. He’s curled in on himself and sitting sideways on the couch, one arm holding his knees close to himself.

Jonny is easy to propose to, it thinks as it walks forward. As much as he denies being outright sappy, he’s as much of a romantic as Marius or itself.

He continues to scowl as he shifts to sitting like a normal god damned person just in time for the Toy Soldier to get down on one knee in front of him. Anger wipes off of his face in an instant and, in surprise, he pulls his knees back up.

“The hell are you doing?” he asks, his voice giving off a lot more vitriol than his face can muster.

“Proposing,” it says matter-of-factly.

“Proposing?!”

“I do believe that’s what I said, yes.”

Jonny scowls again as it smiles up at him. He doesn’t draw away from himself but does look slightly expectant.

“May I have your hand, now, Jonny?”

“What for?”

“I will give you one guess.”

“Fuck off.”

“You’re very bad at guessing.”

Jonny huffs but does let go of his legs. They fall to the ground in front of him, his boots clinking against the head metal flooring of the practice room. He gingerly extends a hand, looking away as the Toy Soldier pulls the ring out of its pocket. As it looks up with a smile, it can see him blushing enough to turn his ears an amusing shade of red. It lets out a small huff of laughter as it sets it in his hand.

“Why didn’t you put it on?” he asks, turning to look at it and not the ring.

“I want you to look at it first,” it says easily, shifting so both of its knees are on the floor. It shuffles forward and sets its arms on Jonny’s knees as he raises his hands to examine the ring.

It’s very similar to Ashes’ in design, though made out of a deep, purpleheart wood. The resin casting is the same concept, though the resin itself fades from warm yellow to a smoky red that mimics a sunset against the cool purple wood. The carving on the inside of the casting couldn’t be more different from Ashes’. Instead of the blocky skyscrapers and simple skytrain of the City, the landscape carved out of the wood is peppered with cacti and dead bushes and, ever so detailed among the foliage, a horse.

Jonny’s breath catches in his throat as he looks it over, turning it in his hand, running his finger along the sides and scraping his calluses on the carved edges of the resin casting. The Toy Soldier waits patiently, resting its chin on its arms as it looks up at his awestruck gaze. Eventually, he turns it over and catches his eyes on the carved letters along the inside, set in with silver in blocky, sketchy letters.

_ Captain Jonny d’Ville - Mi Amado _

“You weren’t kidding, huh,  _ mi rosito?” _

The Toy Soldier gives a bright, eye crinkling smile as Jonny slips it on. “It matches with Ashes’ ring,” it says, tilting its head so its cheek presses up against its arms.

Jonny looks in mock annoyance but runs his fingers reverently against the ring itself. “Why would you do that?”

“Thought you’d want to match your ring with someone,” it says, shrugging slightly. “You like matching, right?”

He huffs slightly, looking away pointedly as his cheeks light up again. “I mean, I guess,” he grumbles. “But traditionally it would match with the person that proposed.”

“Well, I didn’t make a ring for myself.”

“You don’t?” he looks down at it with a crinkled brow, fingers pausing on the ring.

“Was I supposed to?” it asks, tilting its head a bit more.

“Well,” Jonny starts, then stops, closing his mouth, thinking. “No, you weren’t. That’s fine. Uhm, did you get to everyone already?”

“No, I thought you’d get antsy.”

Jonny rolls his eyes and takes the Toy Soldier’s hat off. He quickly ruffles its hair and places the cap on his own head.

“I’m confiscating this,” he says simply. “You can have it back when you give everyone else their rings.”

“Is this an excuse for me to come back here?”

“No.”

“Of course.”

The Toy Soldier’s next stop is deeper into the Aurora where the labs curl around near the engine rooms. The corridors here curve more obviously and can get dizzying if you don’t know them well. The Toy Soldier obviously does, having been on her for… millennia now, though it really can’t place a good number on how many. At least six, right? Yes, at the very least it’s been six millennia. Probably more, maybe, doesn’t matter. What matters is the sounds of mild cackling and sizzling coming from one of the smaller labs. Once upon a time, those noises coming from this section would put it, along with pretty much every other Mechanism, on edge. Nowadays, it’s a telltale sign of la Cognizi.

It stops right in front of the door without activating its pressuring procedure. It takes a deep breath, feeling for the right ring in its pocket, and then gingerly knocks.

The knock is followed by the sound of something ringing loudly, then some kind of cymbal, a warning siren, and then silence. Next comes the sound of shoes covered in plastic tapping their way to the door before it slides open, revealing Raphaella standing in the doorway, wings outstretched, and a gleaming smile on her face.

“What can I do for you,  _ lief?” _ she asks, fluttering her wings slightly as she looks down at the Toy Soldier.

It pauses for a second, a warm and anxiousness growing in its chest, before it carefully takes her hand. The slow movement quickly transcends into a more quick, spinning one as it twirls Raph, a smile growing on its face. In Raph’s confusion at the sudden movements, it takes the ring out of its pocket and places it quickly in her hand, then closes her fist around it before she can react. Finally, Raph stabilizes herself, a wild smile on her face as she flutters off the ground so her dizzy legs don’t have to keep her upright.

“What’s this about?” she asks, a giggle in her voice.

“Check your hand!” it exclaims, stepping back slightly.

She blinks in confusion for a couple of seconds before glancing down at her clasped fist. A smile grows on her face at the sly movements it took to get the object in her hand without her even realizing her hand was closed before she opens it.

The ring that sits in her pale palm is made out of bamboo with a greyish stain. The ring itself is carved with peaks and divots that resemble a cog. In the center of the ring is a line of sparkling green glass flanked on each side with an even skinnier line of shining silver, splitting it into sections. The divots are sparse enough not to both her other fingers when the ring is put on. She catches a glimpse of the script lined with silver on the inside, precise lettering that is perfectly legible in comparison with the writing on some of the other rings.

_ Raphaella la Cognizi - Mijn Schat _

She gasps and quickly slips it on, her happiness as clear as day with a smile as bright as a supernova as she starts to flutter wildly in the air, a small purring noise coming from the back of her throat. All of a sudden, she flings herself at the Toy Soldier, making it jump and barely catch her as she comes crashing into it, only to pick it up and spin it.

“Ah, please put me down, Raphaella,” it says in a monotone, staring wide-eyed as its systems try to calibrate to the spinning with little success.

“Sorry, sorry,” Raph says quickly, setting it down solidly on the floor. “It’s just- this is gorgeous,  _ mijn lief!  _ I can’t think of anything more perfect than it other than you!”

If the Toy Soldier could blush it would but as it stands, it buries its face into its hands and makes an odd creaking noise, tensing up at the shoulder in embarrassment. Raphaella only giggles and it can hear her get closer and then suddenly cut off. A kiss is pressed into the sliver of wood between its hair and its hands, only causing it to duck its head more for a quick moment before pulling up, a bright smile on its face.

“Oh! Who else have you given rings to?” Raph asks in a flurry, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “I have to see how you did the other rings and what techniques you used and what you carved on the inside and how different each of them are and if the scripts you used are different and what woods and stains and- Oh, this is wonderful! Where’s yours?”

The Toy Soldier pauses for a second, blinking at the rapid words before processing the question in the mess. It fabricates a soft, timid smile it thinks looks right and shrugs. “I didn’t make one for myself.”

Raph pouts. She looks at her ring, pulling her hand away from her face to see the sparkle up near the lights of the corridor. She seems to be thinking.

“Where are the others?” she asks, tilting her head like a curious puppy as she looks down at where it still stands on the solid ground.

“Most of them are in the commons, Raphaella!” it puts a bright smile on its face and squares into an informative posture. “Jonny isn’t, though. He’s in the practice room waiting for me to return. Tim and Brian are on the bridge, but I haven’t been to them quite yet!”

“Is that why you don’t have your hat?”

“Yes, Jonny said I would it get it back when I was done.”

“Well, you should hurry then,” Raph laughs as she starts to fly off down the corridor. “I have to see the other rings!  _ Ik hou van je!” _

The last destination is the bridge. As the Toy Soldier draws closer, walking down the one juncture that heads directly to the front of the ship, it feels a nervous energy course through its clockwork. Its fingers tap against its leg, rapidly press chords into its hip, strum into the air, clench and unclench its trigger finger, and it lets out small humming noises every so often as it tries not to stop and bounce. It has somewhere to be, it can’t stop to blow off steam when that steam needs to drive it forward to its final task.

“The others aren’t responding to any messages,” it hears Tim grumble from around the corner.

“They’re probably busy,” Brian says, sounding slightly exasperated.

“All of them? Nope! They’re planning something! Even Toy won’t reply! It always replies!”

“It always replies to  _ you, _ Tim.”

“That’s not even partially the point, you hunk of brass.”

“Are you two fighting?” the Toy Soldier asks as it rounds the corner, face pulled tight into a practiced look of discomfort.

The bridge is dimmed because of the people currently inside. Both Tim and Brian don’t need any light to see in the dark and the stars out of the observation window provide plenty of light that shines against the both of them quite nicely. It feels warmth and a somewhat floaty feeling spread from its chest as it looks over the two of them, still keeping the concerned look schooled onto its face.

“Toy Soldier! Just the one I wanted to see!” Tim exclaims, a bright smile pulling on his face as he jumps off of where he was sitting on the control panel.

“Hello, Gunpowder Tim,” it says cheerily as it continues to walk in, letting the concerned expression fall into a softer one. “What were you two talking about?”

“Oh, well,” his voice slips down into one of annoyance as he walks over to it and slings an arm over its shoulder, pulling it in close to him, “absolutely none of these assholes are responding to messages. Including you, actually! Why haven’t you been responding?”

The Toy Soldier flinches at his annoyed tone until he looks down with a look of more fondness than nothing else, pulling it closer to the observation window.

“I’ve been busy,” it says simply.

It slips out of his grip with ease, ducking away. Tim looks confused as it goes to grab at his shoulders and push him over to the control panel. He sits back down, brow furrowed and a slight pout on his face as it pulls away.

“What’s this about?” he asks with what it thinks is amusement in his tone but could also be genuine confusion.

“It’s been going perfectly so far, I just need to finish this off,” it mumbles slightly, backing away. “You stay there for just a couple more minutes, yes?”

“Yes, fine, alright,” Tim rolls his eyes and if he wasn’t wearing a fond smile the Toy Soldier would be a bit more concerned. He crosses his arms as well, for the dramatic effect if nothing else.

“Perfect, thank you!”

It spins around on its heel to face Brian, who has been watching with mild amusement at the whole exchange. He sort of looks surprised when it turns to face him, a determined look trained on its face. It strides forward to stand directly between him and the window.

Brian tilts his head slightly but doesn’t question it out loud until it leans down and grabs onto his hands softly. It easily pulls him to his feet and then puffs its chest slightly, standing up straighter to try to reach his height and not succeeding in the slightest.

“What are you doing?” Brian asks, a small laugh in his voice that’s somewhere between amusement and nervous energy.

“Proposing!”

“Oh!” he exclaims, jumping slightly. “Oh! We haven’t done that before, have we?”

“Not in my memory,” it confirms. “My memory is not all that amazing, though, Pilot Brian. According to Aurora’s records, we have not had any proposals in at least six millennia and I believe that’s as long as I’ve been in the crew.”

“I really wouldn’t know,” he laughs, “you’ve been here longer than I have.”

“Have I?”

“I think so.”

“No matter! I have a ring!”

It drops one of his hands and reaches into its pocket for the second-to-last ring. It presents it simply, holding it between its fingers like it did Ashes’ and Marius’ rings.

The ring is made of padauk wood, making it a deep, vibrant red. There are lines and tiny divots carved into its surface inlaid with silver that reflects the stars and galaxies outside of the window. The way they’re carved somewhat resembles the plating on Brian’s face, though the deep red makes it just different enough to make it enjoyable as it looks it over. On the inside, he can just barely see that something is carved on the inside. He gingerly plucks it from the Toy Soldier’s grasp and squints at the inside.

_ Drumbot Brian - Mo Chridhe _

“Oh…” 

The Toy Soldier looks up, a slight pang of worry hitting its chest until it sees the soft look on Brian’s face and the slight shine in his eyes that lets it know that he would be tearing up if he could.

“Do you like it?”

“Of course I like it, Toy, it’s wonderful,” Brian laughs slightly. He slips the ring on easily, the lack of metal on the inside preventing any horrid metal-on-metal scraping sounds. “Thank you,  _ mo ghrádh.” _

“Of course!” it repeats in a chipper tone. “Oh! Ivy said she wanted to see you in the commons after I gave you this.”

“Are you alright with me leaving, then?” he says, leaning forward slightly in a prompted way.

“Perfectly fine, Brian!” it confirms. “Plus, I still have one more ring I need to give someone, and then Jonny wanted to see me back in the practice room so I could get my hat back.”

“Bastard’s not gonna let anyone else have your attention?” Tim grumbles from behind.

It turns at the hip, still holding one of Brian’s hands as it smiles over at Tim. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you came alone, Tim!”

“He better not,” he says, pulling his arms in tighter. “Do you want me to stay sitting here?”

“Oh, I…” it trails off and furrows its brows.

It looks back at Brian, who is still smiling affectionately. He takes his hand from the Toy Soldier’s hand and brings it to its chin. He lifts its face up and plants a kiss right on its nose, making it cringe back and crinkle its nose up. He drops his hand and backs away.

“I’ll see you in a while, then,” he laughs. “Promise not to crash her if I leave you two in here?”

“Not like she’d let us,” Tim says.

“You’re not laying a hand on the controls,” a monotonous voice calls from one of the speakers.

“Of course, of course,” Brian says, making his way out.

The Toy Soldier waits for his footsteps to start fading, iron soles clanking against the metal of the corridor floors. The whole time it can hear Tim shifting uncomfortably where he still tries to sit still on the control panel. Finally, it turns around, giving him a bright smile. He relaxes somewhat, arms untensing but staying crossing.

“I saved yours for last,” it says as it walks toward him.

“Why?” he asks, straightening up.

It doesn’t answer at first. It walks up to him and bows its head. Carefully, it snakes its arms into a hug. Tim stays stubbornly still for only a moment before a soft sigh escapes his lips and he lets his arms fall only to wrap them around the Toy Soldier. It smiles against his chest and lets itself relax a bit.

“Went through everyone in increasing increments of how emotional they would get about it,” it explains.

“Hey!” Tim exclaims, pulling back.

It looks up at him immediately in surprise and is glad to see not a hint of actual offense in his face, just a slight pout mixed with a fond smile.

“I’m not emotional!” he insists.

“Whatever you say,” it says, pulling back.

He lets go, though reluctantly, to let it fish the final ring out of its pocket. Its hands clasp around the wooden box that sits in the bottom of its pocket and it braces itself as it pulls it out and snaps it open.

Tim’s eyes go wide as he looks it over. He quickly replaces his mild surprise with a smug grin. 

“Was it how emotional I would get or how emotional you would get?” he asks, eyes crinkling up.

“I think it’s the same thing.”

He looks back at the ring, held carefully in the soft white cushion of the box. It’s made out of cedarwood with a deep, golden oak finish that makes it rich and dark. Only half of its is wood, though, the ring split along the length of it with cold, unadorned gunmetal save for a single gemstone set into the front of the ring. It’s a translucent white with faint, opaque streaks down its length. It’s tumbled into an oval and set securely into the ring.

He takes it out of the case and starts to put it on his finger before the Toy Soldier grabs his wrist, surprising him.

“Look at the inside!” it exclaims, a tinge of panic in its tone.

He furrows his brow but takes it off the tip of his finger. He squints at the inside, although he doesn’t have to squint and just does it out of habit these days. 

The script on the inside is a lot different than the others. It’s not fancy or precise or performatively messy. It’s simple and plain and all-around normal. It’s normal and plain because it’s just its handwriting, perfectly scrawled on the inside in no attempt at performative elegance or grace.

_ Gunpowder Tim - My Angel _

He feels his breath catch in his throat as he takes in the title. He must be smiling like an idiot but it's so perfect.

In a switch movement, he slides the ring on and wraps the Toy Soldier in a tight hug. He can barely hear it giggle as it hugs him back, just as tight.

“I love you,” he murmurs as he buries his face into its shoulder, having to bend down to do so.

“I love you, too,” it says into his own shoulder.

“Let’s get your fucking hat back.”

It laughs as it pulls away and he grabs its hand to drag it out of the bridge and down the echoey, metal corridors they’ve all shared for millennia before and millennia to come.

**Author's Note:**

> An explanation for the "practiced expressions:" so a very common thing for... at least me a few other autistic people I know but this isn't universal, is that sometimes expressing is hard and you don't know what looks right. My own face switches plainly between either concern or a blank look if I don't force it into other expressions. I've only recently noticed that it's not technically normal to make faces in the mirror to see what looks natural. I'm projecting in that way because it seems to fit the Toy Soldier as a character. The only person I don't have it doing that with is Ivy, who I also tend to write with an equally blank expression. How I write TS, its default expressions are a smile and a blank/solemnish look. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Find me @byron-von-raum or @fracnkie on tumblr


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